First start - newbie questions (1 Viewer)

[xyperium]

Hello all,
I have just completed the assembly of my first HTPC this weekend and have installed win XP Pro and MP that I got from a disk from a computer magazine. Everything is up and running apart from a heating issue - apparantly coming from graphic card and a too small cabinet. When I copied my +230Gb music plus some 45 Gb video files from the external HD the cpu clapped out 3 times due to overheating. Apart from that, it's all setup now - I've got sound and pictures and I can show videos and dvd's. Tv card is not yet installed as I just want the basics to run first.
I have never had any MC software before but used Media Player, Itunes and explorer. With +2,500 albums and +45,000 titles I have found explorer to be the fastest way to browse and find music.
So I saw MP as a great opportunity to try out another way of handling my music and at the same time adding the other aspects of a media center like tv and radio - all in one box.
I think MP is great - basically I like the way it's working and the very apparant support from the forum.

I'll be posting about my setup later - now it's about the sw version and the facilities: PM is ver 0.2.2.0 and before I am getting too much involved in this version I would like to know if I should upgrade straight away, and in that case if I need to uninstall 0.2.2.0 before I upgrade to the new version ?
A problem I have with the menu's is that the main menu scroll is too fast. I can hardly select the desired menupoint with the mouse before it disappear and it is impossible with the remote. Is it possible to make the "wheel" slow down - or to have static icons ? Another thing is that it is a slow jobt to scroll through all the music albums starting from one end even I use small icons. Is there a faster way ?
Another thing is that when select an album ( read map ) and click on the first song it plays only that song. Can I only play a sequence of songs through playlists ?

All for now

Chris

 

[mcbelly]

At first welcome to the real world ;-)

Uninstall 0.2.2.0 (all settings are kept) and upgrade to 0.2.3.0 - takes about 10 minutes and it´s worth it.

Scrolling : I have the same problem when using a mouse, but it works great with remotes. What remote are you using ?
On your remote, if there is a numberpad, you can use the numbers to jump to specific characters, like using a mobile phone (1 - ABC, 2 - DEF, etc...)
When you select a song, not a playlist, all the songs should be played. Try again after updating....


hth

mcbelly

 

[Marcusb]

be aware that when unistalling 0.2.2.0, not all settings are kept.
The uninstall nowadays seems to delete certain folders, like plugins, skins, music player, etc.
Best to back up all folders first, just in case you have that perfect customised skin or winamp vis that took ages to configure.

 

[xyperium]

Many thanks for the replies, I will go for the upgrade. So far I have only done the basic settings, no cusomisation as I wanted to get a feeling of the program and the possible upgrade before messing too much with it. I hope I'll keep the other programs from the installation though.

My remote is a SoundGraph iMON VFD, and it is supposed to be compatible - I think.

I am going to list my hardware configuration under Completed HTPC Projects shortly

 

[xyperium]

I have now posted my HW-setup in Completed HTPC Projects.

And then I have upgraded to 0.2.3.0 - no problems at all. The HTPC didn't even run hot this time. ( I am going to install extra fans anyway).
Now it is playing all track in a folder - thats nice, but the remote dont work with the number jump thing - maybe it is just setting it up correctly. The TV card came with a remote too so I may try that one out even I like the SoundGraph better.

Marcusb - You mention Winamp - is it necessary to install it and what is the purpose ?

Well basically I just have to get familiar with the program and the features before I get into the customisation and add-ons.

Are there any recommendations for must-haves ?

And I would really like to swab the main meny bally-wheel with static icon buttons if possible ?

All for now, I am going to play with my new toy


Chris

 

[Marcusb]

It's not needed to instal WinAmp, but if you really like the winamp visualisations, such as milkdrop, then you need to install these. It can be a bit tricky to get this set up the way you want, so I thought I'd warn you, just in case, otherwise you'd find all your work deleted.
I think you can have static buttons for the menu. Either experiment with different skins or check in the configuration for plugins/home. You can't actully stop them moving in the default skin, but you can stop them bouncing.

I really like the MyVoice plugin. What geek doesn't want a voice responsive HTPC

 

[xyperium]

Thanks for the advise. I want to keep it as simple as possible. I going to try out different skins though.
For the music I think I will stick to MediaMonkey - at least as long as I am editing tags and organising it.